


Personal Space

by CoppersMama



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Destiel - Freeform, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Or don't, Personal Space, Pie, SPN - Freeform, SPN Season 4, Smut, cherry pie, early castiel, respect the bubble, the scene we all wanted to see, there's always time for pie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29024337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoppersMama/pseuds/CoppersMama
Summary: Castiel is completely incapable of respecting Dean's personal space, so he sets out to teach him a lesson. Things don't go to plan ...
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 7
Kudos: 59





	Personal Space

**Author's Note:**

> This was written about 11 years ago. I’m going through some of old work and updating it to post on this platform. Hoping to inspire a return to writing and finish some of my abandoned fics. 
> 
> This particular story is about Castiel's inability to respect Dean's personal space - set around season 4 or 5.
> 
> Enjoy!

Dean had tried his best to drill it into Castiel's head time and time again: respect his personal space. But the angel just didn't seem to get it. He was constantly popping in at the most unfortunate of situations, and more often than not, he would be less than a foot away from Dean when he did. Every single time it happened, Dean would jump nearly out of his skin, glare at Castiel, and berate him for the indiscretion, telling him to wear a bell or something.

The time when Castiel had popped in on him while he'd been ...  _ relieving his tension _ ... that had been bad enough. But the last straw had been the other day, when Dean had been lathering himself with soap in the shower of their latest motel residence. He'd turned around to wash the soap off his arms, torso, and  _ other _ areas to find Castiel standing inside the shower with him, oblivious to the fact that Dean was naked, or that water was soaking through that damned trench coat of his.

Dean was finally prepared to take more aggressive steps to get through to the angel.  _ Time to give him a taste of his own medicine, _ he thought before summoning the clueless angel.

"Hello Dean," Castiel greeted from behind him.

Dean put his poker face on, turning around to look at the angel. Where he would normally step back and tell Castiel to quit coming so close to him, he stood his ground, even moving forward a half-inch. "Hi Cas," he welcomed.

If Castiel noticed a change in Dean's behavior, he didn't say anything.

Dean pressed forward, hoping to either make his point or make the angel uncomfortable ... or both. "So, how are things on the home-front?" he wondered, using a softer voice than normal as he stood roughly a foot away from the angel.

Castiel met Dean's eyes casually, not commenting on the situation. "I continue my quest to find god, but it is difficult and time-consuming. Did you call me here to inquire about the goings on in Heaven, or just to … chat?" His lips wrapped around the short word like it was a new word he’d picked up on a word-of-the-day calendar and he was testing out using it in a sentence.

Dean shrugged, slowly taking another incremental step forward. "I dunno, I guess I was feeling a little lonely. With me and Sam gone our separate ways ... thought you might like to hang out."

Castiel maintained his stare, his head quirking slightly, not unlike a puppy. "You have never wanted to ...  _ hang out _ before. Why now?"

Dean wondered how long it would take for it to sink in, but he persisted, not wanting to be the one to back down. It would defeat the purpose of the entire point if he backed away now. So he shrugged and replied, "Just felt like getting to know my guardian angel a little better."

Castiel narrowed his eyes, letting his mind seep into Dean's, reading his thoughts. He didn't do it often, as he knew the hunter would see it as an invasion of his privacy and would take offence to it, but there were times when it was easier to just go in and see what Dean was thinking, than it was to wait for him to finally admit to anything.

The reasoning for his actions was on the very front of his mind, so it was easy for Castiel to figure out what was going on. He thought about backing off, but then delved a little deeper into the hunter's mind, into areas that he knew Dean wasn't even aware of. The subconscious of humans was a fascinating place for Castiel. It wasn't sheltered by guilt or embarrassment, by lies or half-truths. Dean's subconscious was pure, as was true of most mortals,, and Castiel was able to see deeper into why Dean was doing what he was doing. Why he so desperately wanted Castiel to stop appearing so close to him, to stop arriving at inconvenient moments.

The truth of it surprised him. Dean Winchester was an excessively heterosexual man, and even though as an angel he himself was gender-neutral, his vessel was male, and that was a part of what Dean was apparently attracted to. What surprised him more was that he wasn't put-off by this discovery ... he welcomed it. If he could delve into his own subconsciousness, he suspected to find that he harbored the same feelings for Dean Winchester.  _ Fascinating, _ he thought.

Castiel considered the best way to approach this situation with the knowledge he now had, and decided the best way was subtlety. If he confronted Dean directly with the truth, he would only deny it.

"Very well," Castiel spoke finally. "What would you like to do?"

Dean blinked, pausing for a second to rethink his game plan. "Uh ... we could, um ... play cards?"

Castiel nodded after a moment, his gaze unwavering. "You will have to teach me."

Dean turned his head, looking around the room and trying to gather his thoughts. "Okay, well, why don't I just clear off the desk, and we -"

"The bed would be more comfortable, would it not?" Castiel inquired, allowing innocence to exude from his sparkling, blue eyes.

Something caught in Dean's throat, and he cleared it as discreetly as he could. "Uh, sure ... bed's fine."

...

An hour passed while Dean taught Castiel the basics of poker, winning more hands than he lost but enjoying it all the same. Dean had opened his mouth a dozen times to ask Castiel what he was doing, and whether or not he got the point yet, but he always closed it again. Some part of him didn't want the night to end. He was reminded of the time he’d tried to get Castiel to lose his virginity to a stripper, and their consequent run from security ... okay, clearly he was not the moral authority on how to have a good time. But still, tonight had a tangibly different feel than that other night. Despite his initial motives, this was more relaxed than he'd felt around the angel since he met him, and he wasn't even drunk.

Castiel smiled as he won the third hand in a row, and Dean wondered if he wasn't using some of his mojo to tip the scales.

"Alright, time to up the ante," Dean announced. "I gotta get my groove back."

Castiel tilted his head. "I believe the logical transition is what you humans call ‘strip poker’? Is that what you are referring to?"

Dean's eyes widened to resemble saucers, staring at the angel. "What? No, that's not what I meant."  _ Well, maybe it was ... but it was just a joke, right? Besides, it's not like we can play for cash, gambling is a "sin". _

"Look, why don't we go get something to eat instead?" he suggested, needing to change course and get his sea legs back, thinking food should be harmless enough. "I'm starving."

Castiel nodded, clearing away the cards and plastic poker chips with a few simple swipes and setting them on the bedside table. "Lead the way."

Dean walked to the diner with Castiel at his side, constantly aware that the angel was literally  _ right beside _ him ... so close, in fact, that their shoulders, arms, and even their hands would occasionally bump against each other. The personal bubble had pretty much popped into a thousand floating bubbles around them, but he didn't say a word. He'd lost the nerve to lecture Castiel the second he agreed to play poker with him. He wasn’t sure exactly what his plan was now.

When they arrived at the diner, Dean found an empty booth near the back. He slid into one side, expecting Castiel to take the other side, and was surprised when he felt the bench dip beside him. Dean looked over to see Castiel sitting right next to him, glancing over the menu with apparent interest in his eyes.

"Um, Cas, could you -" But before he could get the words out, the waitress arrived to take their order.

"Can I get you guys some drinks to start?" she wondered with a friendly voice.

Dean looked from her to Castiel before replying, "Uh, two coffees, thanks."

The waitress smiled, writing it down and sneaking a glance at the two of them. "Okay, I'll be back to take the rest of your order."

Castiel finished reading the menu, passing it to Dean. "I'm not sure what is good to eat here."

Dean looked over at him, forgetting to ask him to move. "You're gonna eat, too?"

"I don't require sustenance, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy certain foods. I've just never had to occasion to try," Castiel informed him.

Dean thought about that, leaping at the opportunity to introduce Castiel to pie. "Well, if this is your first time, then there's only one thing to have," Dean told him.

Castiel raised his eyebrows in interest. "What would that be?"

Dean smiled. "Sweet Cherry Pie."

...

It was the pie that had done him in. Something in him had snapped when that first glorious bite had made its way to Castiel's awaiting mouth, and suddenly Dean felt like he couldn't breathe. He knew something was missing, that he needed something desperately, so he turned off his brain and let his body run on autopilot, letting it decide what to do for itself.

That was how he ended up straddling Castiel's waist on the bed in his motel room. That was how he'd ended up with the taste of heavily sweetened cherries and pastry in his own mouth, after kissing the angel senseless. And that was why he was currently clawing at the tie around the angel's neck, practically rabid in his attempts to remove the final barrier of their clothing.

Castiel let Dean undress him, reveling in the sensations it was creating; the feelings it was stirring inside of him. He returned the favor once he was naked, removing Dean of the unnecessary coverings. It was truly a night of firsts ... Castiel's first game of poker, his first taste of dessert, his first sexual encounter. The part of him that was berating him for his sins was silenced fairly early, allowing himself the freedom to be with the one that he loved. And he did love Dean, in every sense of the word. It was becoming more apparent to him with every passing day that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for this human … for this man. 

Afterwards, when they were lying sideways on the bed, with pillows and blankets strewn haphazardly around them, Castiel turned his head to gaze at the human next to him with unconcealed fondness. "So, does this mean you don't mind me invading your personal space any longer?"

Dean stared ahead for a moment, letting that sink in before he turned to the angel with a grin on his face. "We can work out the details later," he proclaimed, drawing him in for another heated kiss and rolling until they fell off the bed entirely.

**Author's Note:**

> Reading through fiction I wrote when I was 20 is an interesting experiment in humility. I made very few edits to this one, but enjoyed the memories it brought up of those early seasons. 
> 
> Let me know if it took you on the same train to nostalgia!
> 
> For those interested in celebrating fanfics in a group-discussion format, feel free to join Fanfic Book Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/217134689957048
> 
> Peace and good things
> 
> CoppersMama


End file.
